BUTLER TWP — Pine-Richland liked where it stood at halftime.

The Rams like how they stood up at the end of the game even better.

A Joel Stutz trey pulled Butler within 60-59 with 16 seconds remaining. Pine-Richland's Phil Jurkovec hit two free throws a second later and Andrew Petcash added two more with 3.4 seconds to go to give the unbeaten Rams a 64-59 Section 1-6A boys basketball victory in the Butler gym.

“Other than a few minor things, I can't fault my team's play tonight,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “We played toe-to-toe with the best team in the WPIAL. Those guys are undefeated for a reason.

“Moral victories won't help you get into the playoffs, but you can't get demoralized by close losses, either. This is a tough section.”

All five of the Golden Tornado's (10-7, 4-5) section losses are by seven or fewer points. Pine-Richland (17-0, 8-0) has four section wins by six or fewer points this season.

“We know we have to play hard to win these games, but if we go out and execute, we believe we can beat anybody,” Rams coach Jeff Ackermann said.

“We won 17 games my first year here, 21 last year and 17 so far this year. This is a seasoned group.”

They showed it on this night.

Butler sank five treys in the first half and had a 21-9 lead with 7:10 left before intermission. The Rams chipped away from there. A steal and lay-up by Andrew Petcash seconds before the end of the half pulled P-R within 31-27 at the break.

“I liked that score at that point because they (Butler) played so well in the first half,” Ackermann said. “They hit a bunch of shots from outside, but it's hard to keep up that pace.”

The game was tied on four different occasions in the second half, the last time at 50 as Tornado freshman guard Ethan Morton sank two free throws with 5:43 remaining.

Jurkovec answered with a three-point play at the other end and a Petcash trey gave the Rams a 56-50 advantage. The lead moved to 58-51 on an Andrew Kristofic lay-up with 1:35 to play.

“We didn't hit shots in the second half. That was the difference,” Clement said.

Spearheaded by Morton, the Tornado had a flurry left in them. Morton hit a jumper with 1:19 to play, then canned a trey to pull his team within 58-56 with 42 seconds left. He scored 12 of Butler's 15 fourth-quarter points

Two free throws by Jurkovec were followed by the Stutz trey, but Butler could not score again.

“We didn't want to foul Jurkovec late, but you don't have much choice when you're trailing,” Clement said.

In the second half, Pine-Richland sank 12 of 16 shots from the floor and eight of 10 from the foul line. Butler hit just 10 of 29 shots from the floor, four of nine from the charity stripe in the final two quarters.

“Some missed free throws tonight really hurt us,” Clement admitted.“But we defended well. Petcash didn't go off on us and we were solid inside.

“Their perimeter guys hurt us. (Nolan ) Rausch got loose and hit his shots. That can happen when guys help inside and leave them.”

Petcash had 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Rams after scoring just one point in the opening quarter.

“It took Andrew a while to get going tonight, but he got going,” Ackermann said. “We had four guys in double digits tonight and I like that.”

Jurkovec had 16 points. seven rebounds and five assists. Evan Luellen contributed 15 points and three assists, Rausch 12 points on four treys.

Morton paced Butler with 19 points, four assists and four rebounds. Stutz had 14 points and three assists, Tyler Frederick 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

“If we come out for the rest of our games and play with the intensity we played with tonight, we'll have a chance to win all of those games,” Clement said. “Right now, we want to win our last three sectiion games, finish 7-5 and see where that puts us.”

PINE-RICHLAND 64Andrew Petcash 6-10 3-5 16, Nolan Rausch 4-7 0-1 12, Evan Luellen 6-7 3-3 15, Phil Jurkovec 5-9 6-7 16, Sean Colosimo 1-2 0-0 3, Andrew Kristofic 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 23-35 12-16 64.BUTLER 59Luke Michalek 0-0 0-0 0, Jace Stutz 1-4 0-0 2, Ian McCarrier 0-0 0-00, Jason Gray 2-4 0-0 6, Tyler Frederick 5-11 1-2 11, Connor Ollio 3-4 0-0 7, Ethan Morton 7-17 3-5 19, Joel Stutz 5-13 0-0 14. Totals: 23-53 4-9 59.Pine-Richland 7 20 20 17 — 64Butler16 15 13 15 — 593-point goals: Petcash, Rausch 4, Colosimo; Gray 2, Ollio, Jo.Stutz 4, Morton 2JV: Pine-Richland, 55-43 (P-R: Greg Shulkosky 24, Dan Petcash 10; B: Pat McLachlin 13)Tuesday: Butler at North Allegheny